Maundy Thursday is an important day during
Holy Week. It’s a time for us to
remember when Jesus shared in a last supper with his disciples. Soon, he would
be arrested by the Roman authorities and crucified on a cross. This last meal has become a meal we continue
to receive to this day to help us reflect on what Jesus’ suffering and death
mean for us.
This
is why the Apostle Paul spends time writing about the Lord’s Supper in his
letter to the Christians in the city of Corinth. They had forgotten why the Lord’s Supper is a
very unique meal.
In
Paul’s day, the Corinthian Christians would have met in homes to worship, eat a
meal together, and receive the Lord’s Supper.
The bread and the cup were part of that much larger meal they would have
had together.
Somewhere along the way, they forgot the reason why they were gathering
for a meal in the first place. They
forgot why the loaf of bread and the cup were part of that great spread of
food. This holy meal that was meant to
remind them of their oneness in Jesus Christ had become just another meal.
And so Paul reminds them of the meaning of this meal by saying how it
was Jesus who offered his body and his blood for us so that we will always
remember what he did for us when he died on the cross for the world. Paul is
saying that whenever you see the bread and the cup on that table of food, to
remember that this is why we have gathered in the first place. We have gathered because of what Jesus has
done for us.
In my first church where I served as pastor,
I was celebrating the Sacrament of Holy Communion one Sunday morning. We were
serving by intinction where people come forward to a communion station, take a
piece of bread, dip it into the chalice of juice, partake, and then return to
their seat. I was serving at one of those communion stations.
One of the beautiful things about the intinction method is that it is a
very personal experience as people come forward one by one to receive the
Sacrament. It is also a very meaningful
time for me as pastor because when I offer the bread and the cup, I can make
eye contact with each person as they receive the Sacrament.
So
anyway, I was serving Holy Communion at one of the stations and one of my older
members who was in her 90’s was in my communion line. As a life- long member of
the church, she was seen as the matriarch of our small congregation.
When it was her turn to receive, I lovingly looked into her eyes and
said, “Florence, this is the body of
Christ broken for you.” She received
the large piece of bread but then accidentally dropped it on the floor. So I offered her another piece of bread which
she received.
Then I offered her the cup and said, “Florence,
this is the blood of Christ shed for you.”
She then dipped the bread into the chalice and ate. And then she did
something that I will never forget.
She looked down at that large piece of bread that she had accidentally
dropped on the floor. I assumed that she
was going to gently bend over and pick it up since it would be in the way of
the person behind her. To my great
surprise, she quickly swung back her foot, and with all of her might, she
kicked that piece of communion bread as far away as possible. As she started to
go back to her pew, she gave me a little smile as if to say, “Problem solved.”
I
know she thought she was doing a helpful thing but all I could think about was,
“I can’t believe dear Florence just
kicked the consecrated loaf of Christ.”
The Apostle Paul wants us to know that Holy Communion is a very unique
meal. He sums up the meaning of this meal in the last verse of our scripture
reading when he writes, “For as often as
you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he
comes.”
The Sacrament of Holy Communion has a past, a present, and a future
dimension. When we receive the bread and
the cup, we remember the past and how Jesus died on a cross for the sins of the
world. When Jesus died on the cross, he
allowed all of the pain, brokenness, and sin of the world to rest on his
shoulders, so that he would be able to defeat its power once and for all.
The cross reminds us of how deep our sin is. It also reminds us of how costly love
is. Jesus was willing to do for us what
we were not able to do for ourselves. He
broke the power of sin and death.
Whenever I get discouraged or experience disappointments, all I have to
do is think of the cross and I am reminded of God’s great gift of love through
Jesus Christ. Approximately two thousand
years ago, Jesus, an historical figure, the one who was the visible expression
and true embodiment of God gave his life for you and me. What Jesus did is
rooted in human history.
But Holy Communion also has a present dimension. The Apostle Paul writes that we are to
receive the bread and the cup. By
receiving Holy Communion, it’s a way for us to know and experience God’s saving
love in the here and now.
We
believe that the Sacrament of Holy Communion is one of the means of grace in
which God offers his love and grace to us anew.
Every time we receive the Sacrament, we can have an assurance that God
will be present with us just as he was present with Jesus and the disciples in
the Upper Room 2,000 years ago.
And Holy Communion also has a future
dimension. In the last verse of our I
Corinthians scripture reading, Paul writes, “For
as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death
until he comes.” Those last three
words are so important in helping us to understanding the meaning of this
Sacrament. “Until he comes.”
Whenever we receive the bread and the cup, we are reminded that there
will be a day when Christ will return and all of God’s people will feast at his
heavenly banquet. This is the ultimate
hope of our faith, that one day God will make all things new and it will be a
time when there will be no more suffering, sadness, mourning, sin, and death.
Every time we receive this Sacrament, it’s a time for us to look forward
to that time in the future when there will be new heavens and a new earth. And
until that time, we are called as the church to live out our faith and share
this hope with others.
Somewhere along the way, the church at Corinth forgot that this was a
very unique meal. Maybe it was good that
they forgot or we wouldn’t have this scripture from Paul to help us understand
the meaning of this meal.
During church camp one year for elementary age children, a pastor
noticed that that one of the children was always misbehaving, even during their
worship time in the evening. One of the
counselors explained this boy’s story with the pastor.
This boy whose name was Adam and his brother were staying with their
grandparents because their parents had recently divorced. The grandparents thought that it would be
good for her grandchildren to attend church camp. The boys had never attended church so all of
this was very new to them.
To
help the situation, the pastor and this counselor partnered Adam with a high
school counselor whose name was also Adam.
Big Adam was to help explain to young Adam why they were doing the camp
activities and why they had closing worship each night. This high school
counselor helped changed little Adam’s behavior.
On
the final evening of worship, they all celebrated Holy Communion. Each camp family picked two persons from
their group to serve Communion to the other members. As young Adam’s group came
forward, the pastor asked for the two persons to come and join him at the altar
to receive the communion elements to serve to their family.
Little Adam was one of those chosen. The pastor served him and the other
student, and then he handed the elements to them to serve their camp
family. Tears filled this pastor’s eyes
as he watched this young student serve the bread and the juice and share the
words of communion to his group. This young boy who was going through a very
difficult time in his life was experiencing transformation and newness of life,
all because somebody took time to come alongside of him.
On
this Maundy Thursday, as we prepare to receive the Lord’s Supper, let’s
remember that this is no ordinary meal.
It can change your life.